Online activists use Wikibomb to give greater recognition to work of female scientists on Wikipedia

By Sarah Sedghi and Holly RourkeUpdated
Thu 14 Aug 2014, 7:54 PM AEST

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Professor Emma Johnston from the University of New South Wales and Professor Suzanne Cory from the Australian Academy of Science took part in the event in Canberra.

ABC News: Holly Rourke

The organisers of Australia's first Wikibomb to give greater recognition to the work of female scientists say there is a gender imbalance in Wikipedia, and the work of women in the industry is going unrecognised.

To counter this a group of online activists have bombarded the online encyclopaedia with new entries about Australian women scientists, past and present.

More than 140 people from around the country took part, contributing remotely from locations like Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

The central event was held in Canberra at the Australian National University Shine Dome, as part of National Science Week.

Emma Johnston is a University of New South Wales (UNSW) Professor and a marine ecologist with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

"We've got 144 women joining us for the day, and men, who are writing Wikipedia pages about women in science so we're going to have at least 144 excellent entries," she said.

Other women scientists to be recognised included quantum physicist Professor Michelle Simmons from UNSW, who is a pioneer in quantum computing, and marine scientist Leanne Armand.

According to her new Wikipedia page, Ms Armand is known "for her contributions to the understanding of how the Southern Ocean dynamics and sea ice are linked to climate".

Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute also took part.

"I've actually really gotten very excited about the Wikibomb and I really wanted to focus on women across the spectrum," she said.

By building the confidence in women to imagine themselves as scientists and to understand that they can be just as good at maths and science and technology and computers as any man, I think we stand to gain a lot in society.

University of New South Wales Professor Emma Johnston

Dr Evans-Galea made four entries.

"One researcher I've selected is Associate Professor Amanda Fosang. Mandy is one of our leading cartilage researchers," she said.

"She has a lot of accolades that I'm hoping to highlight on her page and I encourage everyone to read it, but when I first approached Mandy she was like, 'oh, I don't think that's necessary', and I think that's a classic female response. We don't promote ourselves."

Those involved said they wanted the online world to better reflect reality.

"When you do a Google search for famous scientists, you come up with all these pictures of old white men in glasses with lab coats and holding beakers of fuzzy green liquid that look nothing like any experiment that I've ever done," said Dr Krystal Evans, CEO of the BioMelbourne Network.

"And so the Australian Academy of Science initiative wants to correct that by profiling women who've made outstanding contributions."

She said it was important that women's work be reflected where most people are sourcing information about science.

"If you went on Wikipedia and you could only find male scientists, then that's the impression that young children in schools would get, that scientists are all men, but this way we're providing a diversity," she said.

Today was just the beginning, as volunteers around the country will continue to update and create Wikipedia pages.

Change still slow for women in science

But while there are some initiatives to help women stay in science, change has been slow.

For instance, taking time away from work to care for children can make it more difficult to get back into a competitive industry.

Professor Johnston said it was not because women did not want to be scientists, and hoped more women would be encouraged to pursue and stay in science careers.

"By building the confidence in women to imagine themselves as scientists and to understand that they can be just as good at maths and science and technology and computers as any man, I think we stand to gain a lot in society," she said.